Paris Je Taime(Paris, I love you)

Synopsis: I know the film's title is really supposed to be spelled Paris Je t'aime, but I had to deliberately leave out the apostrophe otherwise the search engines won't know how to find this page.

Anyway, this movie is a series of eighteen short films that take place in different areas of Paris, France. Originally, twenty were made but two were left out of the final version. All the short films flow from one story to the next, and all the vignettes are filmed by different well-known directors such as the Coen Brothers, Wes Craven, Tom Twyker, Isabel Coixet, Alfonso Cuarón, and others.

And most feature big-name actors like Natalie Portman, Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Elijah Wood...I've included the full list at the end of the review.

Some of the stories are sad, some are humorous, but all are focused on the different aspects of love.

The Good: The idea behind Paris Je Taime is very fascinating, and it's interesting to see how well-known directors handle making short films. Also, each takes a different approach to the theme of love. All the directors had roughly two days to shoot, and with only a few minutes of screen time, it's incredibly challenging to finish a project that feels complete.

Personally, I thought the strongest vignette was the one directed by Nobuhiro Suwa, starring Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe. In less than ten minutes, Suwa creates a simple but very powerful story with the emotional depth of any feature-length drama.

And Tom Twyker's segment, starring Natalie Portman, was very stylized and clever. In some ways it'll remind you of his popular film from 1999, Run Lola Run.

The Bad: Some of the segments, however, don't have a sense of completeness and seem to end rather abruptly. For instance, as much as I liked the approach that the Coen Brothers took with their film (starring Steve Buscemi), I thought they could have come up with a more creative ending.

Who would like this movie: Paris Je Taime is for you if you like foreign movies, but at the same time, the prominent directors attached to this film will spark curiosity in just about every fan of cinema.

The different approaches that each filmmaker takes in telling a short story is arguably the most interesting aspect of the piece. I would definitely recommend this film to you if you're a film/video student who need an idea for your short film project. Paris Je Taime should inspire some good ideas and strategies.